Drew Daniels
SOC 3381
25 October 2015
Class and Gender in Music and Film On the outside, America appears to be the land of opportunity, the land of freedom, and the land of equality. On the inside, this is anything but the truth. There are age-old systems of oppression built to keep long outdated beliefs in place today, and for many groups of people, it is inescapable. These systems cause social harm to lower class communities, to women, to non-binary peoples, and the most to individuals who fall into more than one of those classifications. Many writers and artists have sought to bring these issues of inequality into the public eye, having the most success telling their stories or the stories of others through music and film.

Class oppression is very tricky subject to bring to light and analyze. While the American economic system is built in a way that allows everyone equal opportunities, there are limits that make it sometimes near impossible for lower and working class individuals to build better lives for themselves, limits that are not obvious to someone living outside of the poverty line. Jason DeParle writes about Kathryn Edin, a social worker who studies mothers in poverty and the struggles they go through providing for their children on but a monthly welfare check. While these mothers have the opportunity to get a job to support their families, they are often better off receiving government benefits; they can stay home and care for the children and take advantage of other social programs that go hand-in-hand with welfare, such as Medicaid. The hidden expenses of having a job -- health care, child care, transportation to and from work -- will ultimately cost more than than the income of someone working full time at minimum wage. Lower class families who find themselves unable to move up in the world can get stuck in an infinite loop of poverty,